Posts Tagged ‘Home Selling’

FHA “Flipping” Rule Has Been Waived

June 9, 2008: FHA’s Assistant Secretary for Housing - Federal Housing Commissioner, Brian D. Montgomery signed the Waiver of Requirements of 24 CFR 203.37a (b)(2) which waives the requirement of the seller of a property holding a property for 90 days prior to obtaining FHA financing. This waiver is good for one year and expires June 9, 2009.

What does this mean to Charlotte?

Buying a home in Charlotte now means more options. No longer does property purchased by an investor, or foreclosed on by a lender have to be held for 90 days prior to selling in order to qualify for a Charlotte FHA mortgage loan!

Under FHA’s guidelines, once the ownership of a property changed hands, it had to be owned for 90 days before FHA would extend a loan on it. This restriction would cause many Charlotte foreclosures to have to sit for 90 days before a contract could even be executed on it!

CORRECTION: After futher review, it appears that investors will still be subject to the 90 day rule. The intent is for mortgage companies with foreclosures to have easier access to liquidate their foreclosed properties. This correction should be noted. This also opens the market up for investors that “flip” homes.

In my opinion, I would love to see this opened up to investors as well. There are many investors that will buy a home that needs some serious work, rehabilitate the home and then sell it for a quick profit. The neighborhood and community benefit from such rehabilitation, and in many cases the home buyer gets a great home at a great price! An investor has to own the home for 90 days before they could sell it to someone using FHA mortgage financing, even if the home was ready in 30 days! If this waived was extended to include investor properties, it would allow Charlotte homes for sale by an investor to be sold as soon as they are ready. Maybe HUD will review this as well.

Regardless, this waiver of foreclosed home should open up many options for home buyers using Charlotte’s FHA mortgage programs. If you are considering purchasing a home in Charlotte, now is time to take advantage!

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In Real Estate, Agency Matters!

When you consider buying or selling a home in Charlotte, you might contact and interview real estate agents and Realtors to help you. Before you go too far in those conversations, you need to know about a term called “agency.”

Agency begins when a home is listed for sale by a real estate agent or a Realtor. The seller of the home hires the agent’s firm to represent them in matters related to selling their home. Notice I said they hire the firm, not the agent. While they do work with the specific real estate agent, they actually hire the real estate firm. Much like hiring an attorney, when you hire an attorney the entire firm is hired to represent you.

When you consider this in its entirety, this means that a seller that has hired a firm with 100 real estate agents actually has 100 agents representing their interests. This brings along the concepts of confidentiality and allegiance. Every one of those agents are bound by law to protect and serve the interests of their clients. When you think of it that way, a seller has an entire army of agents in charge of selling their home.

From the start, all real estate agents and Realtors automatically represent the seller. If a home buyer walks in to buy a home and has not hired an agent to represent them, the agent they speak to is responsible to the seller. This means anything a buyer says can and WILL be used against them in negotiating. That is, unless the buyer has specifically hired that agent to represent them.

There are many dynamics that can occur such as exclusive buyer agency, dual agency and more. These take the agency idea into many different directions, which I will try to explain in future posts. However, one thing you should know before you say anything to a real estate agent is to be careful what you tell them (unless you have signed a contract and hired them.) Regardless of being a seller or buyer, if you provide a real estate agent with information about you can be used against you in negotiations in future dealings.

How can information from a simple interview be used against you? Lets examine this. Read the rest of this entry »

Square Footage Changes in Charlotte MLS

The Carolina MLS, Charlotte’s multiple listing service for Realtors to list and sell homes and real estate in the Charlotte area, is making a change in how it will describe the square footage of a home for sale in Charlotte. In the past, the listing Realtor would enter the square footage of a home for sale. However, due to the different ways to calculate square footage of a home and all the hassles (and law suits) that come from those calculations, the Carolina MLS service will now list square footage in terms of a range. (homes for sale in Charlotte)

Typically, the square footage of a home is measured by the exterior dimensions. However, there are some exclusions. For example, if you measure the square footage of a bonus room, a very common type of room found in Charlotte real estate, you may have some challenges. According to the way you calculate “official” square footage, the walls must be at least 5 feet tall. In many of these bonus rooms, the exterior walls can get much lower than 5 feet, so one must measure only to where the height is 5 feet! Doesn’t this sound like fun?

The bottom line is that going forward, you may never know what the actual square footage of a Charlotte home really is. Of course you may get an idea from the MLS range and the appraisal of a property will have an approximation. But with these changes, Charlotte real estate is about to get slightly more complicated. Best advice is to seek the help of an excellent Charlotte Realtor.

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Look, I like Suzy. For the most part I think she gives very good solid GENERIC advice on finances. She even has a great product (Suze Orman’s FICO® Kit Platinum*) that helps with credit scores. But here lately Suzy is becoming just another “Talking Head” on the TV.

A colleague of mine recently expressed frustration in dealing with a client. This client wanted to sell their home and had recently watched Suzy Orman advise someone NOT to sell right now, so they were going to wait for now. As my collegue tried to explain to the client, “We do not live in one of those areas that are suffering from a major declining market”, the client seemed to take Suzy’s advice more seriously.

Folks, please remember that when you are getting your advice in life, make sure that the advice you are getting is from good counsel that is not only informed in general, but also knows your own situation. If you watch Suzy’s show, she gives advice to folks on the TV after a 30 second Q&A drill! This means that she has to take a sliver of information about your situation and then provides you with potentially LIFE ALTERING financial advice! Is this the advice you really want to listen to?

Find a professional in your area that can sit down with you and actually offer solid advice based on YOUR situation… not what the media news claims. After all, when the current story changes tomorrow, so will the advice given by these “experts.”

As a professional mortgage lender in Charlotte, I have told folks that they should not buy a home, or they should not refinance their mortgage. YES… I turned business away! Why? Because it was the right thing for that customer! And by doing the right thing for my customers, I will always be able to give solid advice without compromise and my customers know that they can trust it. I am here for the long haul, not just seeking the quick buck!

So if you need financial advice, give me a call. At least I will listen to your entire situation BEFORE offering potentially life altering advice! And you will know that since I took the time to get to know you, you can trust what I am sharing with you.

Thanks,

Ed Nailor

877-411-9327

*promotional affiliate link

With only three homes to show today, I phoned the appointment numbers yesterday to get the showings scheduled and was ready by noon for today’s tour…

All I lacked were the appointment confirmations from the listing agents on all three homes. Here’s what happened next: Read the rest of this entry »

Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, NC Housing Statistics for ZIP Code 28277:   Week Ending December 28, 2007

Courtesy of Debe Maxwell, REALTOR®/Broker
ABR, Certified Neighborhood Specialist

As a REALTOR®/Broker with HELEN ADAMS REALTY, I monitor local real estate statistics to keep my clients informed and ahead of the real estate trends. Following, are the current real estate statistics for Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, NC  ZIP Code 28207 for the Week Ending December 28, 2007. Read the rest of this entry »